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Tampa mayor cites work on stormwater flooding during State of City Address

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Tampa’s Mayor Bob Buckhorn delivered a stirring speech full of optimism at his annual State of the City Address on Tuesday.

During his speech, the mayor talked about how much all of that is costing city taxpayers.

“We’ve spent 122 million on storm water improvements, with thanks to the Tampa City Council, and for their courage, another 75 million projected to be spent in the next two years,” Buckhorn said.

Two years ago, in August 2015, torrential downpours inundated city streets and put many neighborhoods in South Tampa underwater. John Duff lives on Platt Street and had to erect barricades to keep wakes generated by passing vehicles from sending floodwaters into his home, which had already flooded three times previously.

”The street still floods every time there’s a heavy thunderstorm,” Duff said. “Yes, it does.”

Duff said city crews now do a superior job of clearing out the storm drain on his street that was clogged with debris during those floods in 2015, but he’s still concerned, because the underground drainage can’t handle the volume of water during heavy rain.

He blames that trouble on a city project that took place back in 1994, long before Buckhorn took office.